TAMPA, Fla. — It was win or go home for the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

The Bolts staved off elimination against the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning 4-2 Thursday night in Toronto.

The Maple Leafs now lead the series 3-2 in what is a rematch of a first-round series the teams played last year

What You Need To Know

  • Tampa Bay beats Toronto, 4-2, in Game 5

  • Toronto leads 3-2 in 1st round playoff series

  • Game 6 is Saturday night at Amalie Arena

Game 6 is Saturday night at Amalie Arena.

Michael Eyssimont had a goal and an assist, Anthony Cirelli had a goal and assist and Nicholas Paul and Alex Killorn also scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy had 28 saves. 

Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, which got 34 stops from Ilya Samsonov. John Tavares had two assists.

Toronto, which has failed to advance in the post-season since 2004 and was eliminated by the Lightning in seven games in the first round last year, is now 0-10 since 2018 with a chance to eliminate a post-season opponent.

Tied at 1 after a spirited first period, the Lightning pushed ahead at 4:23 of the second when Eyssimont beat Samsonov through the pads from a tough angle for his first goal of the series.

“He’s almost one-on-one with me,” Samsonov said. “Good shot … good goal.”

The period ended in controversy when Pat Maroon crushed Toronto defenseman Mark Giordano from behind into the boards. The initial play went uncalled, but the bruising Tampa winger was assessed a roughing penalty for the ensuing scrum.

Giordano rejoined his teammates on the bench shortly after the restart after getting looked at by the trainer.

Paul made it 3-1 at 11:53 of the third with his first after the Leafs goaltender got bumped by teammate David Kampf.

The home side pulled within one with 3:34 left in regulation when Matthews banged home a loose puck for his fourth, and third in the last two games, with Samsonov on the bench for an extra attacker.

The Leafs continued to press desperately looking for the tie and send the teams to a third straight overtime before Killorn sealed it with five seconds left.

“Don’t bet against the guys — not that group,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I’m not saying we’ve won the series. We’ve won one game and still have so far to go.

“They dug their heels in tonight. And who really dug his heels in tonight was the goalie."

Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday back at Scotiabank Arena.